Lightning: 1944
by Native Avenger
Summary: The year is 1944 and the war between the Allies and the Axis powers is still raging violently. The European Theatre is at the verge of some of its most bloodiest battles, but two soldiers on different sides are about to fight another war. These two soldiers will have to learn to trust each other and cooperate if they wish to survive what fate has in store for them.
1. Operation Overlord

**Kwai kwai nidobak! This is the prequel to my Lightning series, which is set during the Second World War. I've been waiting to write this story for a long time now and I'm happy to start writing it. I've spent months preparing and doing research on World War II for this fic. Just like the rest of the Lightning series, this story will have very dark themes, so be prepared for that. Remember to leave a review or send me a PM!**

**Historical Fact: The battle of D-Day was originally going to take place on June 5th, but it was postponed a day because the weather was uncooperative.**

Chapter 1: Operation Overlord

Normandy, France: June 6th, 1944

It was a cloudy morning on the coasts of Normandy, France and thousands of LCVP boats could be seen heading towards Omaha Beach. Gunfire and explosions could be heard as squads of American soldiers stormed up the war torn beaches. The current battle that was taking place only just started, but bodies were already littering the sands of the beach and the ocean near the shore was practically red with blood.

One one of the boats that hadn't landed on the beach yet, there was a soldier of Native American descent waiting for the boat's hatch to open. This man had tanned skin and dark brown eyes that looked black from a distance. It was hard to see because of the brownish green helmet he was wearing, but he had dark brown hair that was shaved into a buzz cut.

This man was wearing the same army uniform that everyone else was wearing. Brownish green pants and a jacket with brown leather boots. He also had a steel helmet planted over his head.

On his back however, was a large radio that would allow the sergeant of his unit to communicate with higher ups. This soldier wasn't like other radio men because he was the one who would speak into the radio. This was because he was a Code-Talker, which were Native American soldiers who spoke into the radio using their native languages so that the Germans couldn't understand them if they were listening in on their radio frequencies. This particular Code-Talker could fluently speak English, Abenaki, Navajo, and Lakota.

This Code Talker's name was Dylan Bedage. He had a ceremonial tomahawk strapped to his belt and he was holding the barrel of an M1 Garand in his left hand. In his right hand however, was a black and white photograph of him happily standing next to a dark haired woman. He stared into this photo as the carnage raged outside the boat.

"Sixty seconds!" the sergeant of his squad shouted over the loud gunfire.

Dylan instinctively nodded to this and he looked down at his shaking hand holding the photograph. He could hear a few people around him throw up due to both nervousness and sea sickness. There were also a few people reciting Christian prayers while some others murmured Jewish prayers.

The Code-Talker flinched suddenly when the man to his left bent down and vomited on the boat's floor. A small spec of vomit landed on Dylan's boot and he sighed in both annoyance and pity.

Hoping to take his mind off the sick man next to him, the Native American soldier stuffed the photograph into his coat pocket. He then reached into one of his pockets, took out a condom, and shakily placed it over his rifle's barrel. He was hoping that the condom would prevent water from getting into his gun.

Once he felt like he was ready, he faced forward and looked at the backs of all the nervous men in front of him. After a few seconds, the door at the front of the boat dropped open, allowing everyone to look at the bloody beach they needed to storm onto.

Before anyone could even take a single step forward, a hail of bullets rained down into the boat. Blood splattered out of the soldiers who were shot and they all stumbled down, never to move again.

"Holy fuck! I've been shot! Oh god!" one of the soldiers in front of Dylan screamed in agony before he fell face first into the salty water.

Luckily, the Nazi machine gunner focused on another approaching LCVP boat and the surviving soldiers rushed out of the boat. Dylan was among the people who survived and he sprinted out of the boat and into the water. He nearly tripped on something under the water, most likely a dead body, but he was able to steady his footing and he quickly made his way over to the beach.

By the time he reached the sandy beach, the lower half of his body was soaking wet and blood splatters from his friends and fellow soldiers stained his clothes. He firmly held his M1 Garand with both hands, causing his knuckles to whiten. He then ripped the condom off of the tip of the barrel and threw it to the bloody ground.

Taking a deep breath in a vain attempt to calm his uneasy nerves, Dylan began to run up the beach. The large radio on his back made it difficult however because it was heavy. As he ran, bullets flew passed him and a few of the soldiers near him were torn apart from the gunfire.

An enemy mortar struck the ground not to far from the Code-Talker and he fell to the ground because of the explosion's shockwave. He dropped his rifle and covered his helmeted head with his shaky hands As sand flew over and onto his prone body.

Dylan felt someone grab hold his forearm and he was quickly pulled up to his feet. He looked over at the man who made him stand to see that it was a sergeant he didn't recognize.

"Come on, kid! Stick with me!" the sergeant screamed over the gunfire as he pulled the Code-Talker into a sand dune, where about half a dozen other soldiers were taking cover.

Once they were all in the sand dune, Dylan took the chance to look around the area. There were bodies all over the bloody beach and he could see that some groups of soldiers made it further up the beach than he and this squad did. The air reeked of death and he could barely even smell the ocean. No too far away from thei position, an armless man could be seen stumbling up the beach before he stumbled to the ground, dead.

The Native American soldier was brought out of his trance when one of the soldiers in the sand dune pressed a Thomson submachine gun against his chest.

"Take it!" the soldier shouted over the loud gunfire.

Dylan noticed that the soldier offering the gun already had a weapon for himself, a Flamethrower to be exact, so he assumed the soldier found the gun somewhere else. He just nodded to the soldier and took the submachine gun.

"On my mark, we'll all charge up the beach at once! It isn't safe staying in one place for too long!" the sergeant of this squad shouted with authority in his voice. "Okay! Let's go!" he boomed as he and everyone else stood up.

Even though these people weren't part of his squad, Dylan felt like he should stick with them. It was a hell of a lot better than going up the beach by himself. He followed all the soldiers out of the sand dune and they all sprinted up the war zone as fast as they could.

Unfortunately, some of the soldiers he was with were gunned down from machine gun fire, yet they all still kept charging forward. The sergeant was leading them to a hedgehog up ahead to use as cover. A single bullet from a Nazi machine gun hit the upper left part of Dylan's chest causing him to cry out in pain.

The Code-Talker stumbled and fell to the ground as the bullet hole in his chest bled heavily. He shakily looked up to see the rest of the soldiers he was with were still running up the beach, leaving him behind. He then looked to his right to see a small sand dune that he might be able to take cover in.

Dylan groaned in pain as he crawled over to the sand dune and practically rolled into the crater. He breathed heavily as he laid down on his side and he pressed his right hand over his bleeding wound. His left hand held the Thomson he was given by the weapon's barrel and he was staring at the Nazi bunkers up the beach.

"I... I want to g-go home..." Dylan shakily sobbed as tears came to his eyes and he started trembling; his whole body felt cold.

All of a sudden, a glowing purple light shined in the Code-Talker's peripheral vision. He slowly looked down to see a violet crystal was half buried in the sand near his waist. Not knowing what else to do, he let go of the submachine gun in his left hand and shakily pulled the crystal out of the sand. It seemed to glow more brightly as he held it and he pressed it against his heart.

His dark brown eyes widened when he noticed that sparks of violet electricity began to sparkle and crack from the crystal and no matter how much he tried, he couldn't bring himself to release the crystal.

As this happened, an enemy mortar fell through the sky amidst the chaos and it was falling towards the downed Code-Talker. There was a bright purple flash right before the mortar hit the ground and exploded.

When the smoke and dust finally settled, the crater in the sand was much bigger than before, but there was no body or blood. Dylan had vanished before the explosive could even hit him. Even with him gone, the hellish battle on the beach continued and more people died without his presence.

* * *

Zhytomyr, Ukraine: A Few Hours Earlier

There were cloudy skies in the Nazi occupied country Ukraine and gunshots could be heard within the city of Zhytomyr. Despite the cloudy sky, the weather was rather warm. Not hot exactly, but warm.

Like many cities around the area, the streets were almost completely empty of civilians because of the fighting between the Third Reich and the Soviet army. None of the Ukrainian civilians wanted to be caught in the crossfire.

There were two Nazi soldiers laying on their bellies within a partially destroyed office building and they we're looking out an open window near the top floor. Both of these soldiers were part of the Waffen-SS and one of them was aiming down the scope of a Karabiner 98k bolt-action rifle. The other soldier was looking through some binoculars because he was the sniper's spotter.

Both of these soldiers wore dark gray greatcoats with red swastika armbands on their left forearms. They were also wearing dark gray pants that were tucked into their black boots. They also wore stahlhelm helmets over their heads for protection.

The Nazi with the sniper rifle had pale white skin, like his partner, but his eyes were blue. Under his German helmet, his black hair was cut short and combed back in a very professional fashion. This sniper's name was Fritz Brände. The man he was with was his spotter.

"Ich sehe sowjetischen hundert wegmeter; nahedem Fahnenmast. (I see a Soviet one hundred meters away; near the flagpole.)" the Nazi looking through the binoculars murmured so only his partner could hear.

Fritz slowly aimed his sniper rifle towards the flagpole and spotted a Russian soldier urinating on the ground, facing away from them. From what he could see, the Soviet was an officer or some kind of high ranking soldier.

The SS sniper closed his left eye so he could concentrate on looking through the scope and he set the crosshairs a little to the right of the soldier's head because there was a slight breeze heading towards his left. He took a deep breath to steady his aim and as he exhaled, he squeezed the trigger. Just as he predicted, the bullet swiftly entered the back of the Russian's skull and brain matter splattered out of his head while he fell to the ground.

"Guter Schuss, Oberschütze Brände. (Good shot, Oberschütze Brände.)" the spotter praised, referring to the sniper by his rank.

"Danke. (Thanks.)" Fritz replied with a small smile as he pulled the bolt of his rifle back and pushed it forward again, loading a new bullet into the chamber.

The two men were silent after that and they searched the area for any enemy soldiers. Unlike a few other streets in the city, the one they were looking down at was completely barren of life. Suddenly, dozens upon dozens of Soviets ran out of one of the buildings near the flagpole and opened fire on the two Nazis general position.

"Heilige Scheiße! (Holy shit!)" the spotter screamed with wide, brown eyes as bullets whizzed past them and hit the walls behind them, causing clouds of dust and splinters to burs from the bullet holes.

Fritz Brände began to sweat nervously as he aimed down his rifle's scope. He fired shot after shot until he had to reload his Karabiner 98k rifle, only to shoot some more at the approaching army.

A few of the shots missed, but some of the bullets hit their targets; Not all of them were kill shots though. The men who were shot slumped to the ground with splatters of blood exploding out of their gunshot wounds. Unfortunately, with every soldier shot, three took their place. It was as if the small army was a hydra from Greek mythology.

"Es gibt zu viele von ihnen! (There's too many of them!)" the Nazi spotter screamed in horror as he dropped his binoculars and pulled out his Mauser HSc pistol.

"Mы идeм для вac нaциcтcкиe cвиньи! (We're coming for you Nazi pigs!)" one of the Soviet soldiers screamed with hate in his voice, just barely audible over the gunfire.

Fritz felt a shiver run up his spine when he heard that. He wasn't sure what that soldier just yelled, but he knew it was something bad. He did his best to ignore it however and continued to fire shot after shot with his rifle. As he kept shooting with his sniper rifle, the German spotter began to open fire with his pistol.

Even with the two of them shooting, the Soviets kept charging towards the building they were in. They did not seem to care about their loses or even their own safety. They wouldn't stop until Fritz and his spotter were both dead or captured. Neither of the Nazi soldiers knew which was worse.

"Ӷoᴛoвьᴛecь cᴛᴘaдaᴛь, вы ᴍудaҝи! (Get ready to suffer, assholes!)" the two Nazis heard another Russian soldier scream at them over the gunfire.

All of a sudden, a T-34 Russian tank drove into the open street and the vehicle's cannon slowly turned to point at the building the two Waffen-SS soldiers were in. They both quickly turned to look a one another before they looked back at the tank. They both looked away from one another and dove to the ground As fast as thy possibly could.

The sound of the tank's cannon firing could easily be heard and the explosive projectile smashed into the window they were originally looking through. Parts of the ceiling and the upper half of he wall near the window collapsed while dust and debris flew through the now dusty air.

Fritz trembled uncontrollably as he laid down with his back against the floor. He lost his sniper rifle during the explosion and he was now unarmed. Blood and pieces of gore could be seen scattered all over him and severed limbs from his spotter were all over the room.

The Russian soldiers below stormed their way into the office building after one of them kicked the front door open. Fritz Brände could hear them searching the building and slowly make their way up the stairs.

"Oh mein Gott, möchte ich nicht tun... (Oh my god, I don't want to die.)" the German sniper shakily murmured as he very slowly stood up on his wobbly legs.

The SS sniper slowly took a step forward, but almost tripped on something in the process. He looked down at the bloodied floor to see what almost caused him to fall over and saw a glowing purple crystal resting on the floor. Not knowing what else to do, he bent down and scooped up the crystal with his shaky hand. His wobbling legs gave out at that moment and he fell to his knees.

"Schützen Sie mich bitte, Gott. (Please protect me, God.)" Fritz prayed as his back slouched and he closed his eyes, trying his best to ignore the Russians in the stairwell outside the room he was in.

The Nazi didn't even notice as the crystal in his trembling hands glowed more brightly and sparks of purple electricity started to crackle off the smooth surface. At that moment, he felt a sudden drowsiness and he slowly fell forward. Before he even hit the ground however, he disappeared in a violet flash of light.

As soon as the light faded, the door to the room burst open and the Soviet soldiers stormed in with their weapons at the ready. They lowered their various rifles and sub-machine guns however and looked around in confusion, wondering where the sniper went.

**I would like to thank Zach the Fire Dragon for helping with the German translations, and TheWinterGhost for his help with the Russian translations and alphabet.**


	2. Friendship or Hatred?

**Kwai kwai everyone! I'm appreciating all the feedback from you readers out there. I try my best to be as historically accurate as possible and it makes me happy to know that my efforts are appreciated. Remember to leave a review or send me a PM!**

**Historical Fact: Out of all the American soldiers who fought in World War II, about 600,000 of them were Jewish. Also, two of these Jewish soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor.**

Chapter 2: Friendship or Hatred?

Unknown location, four minutes later

Dylan woke up with a gasp and he immediately attempted to sit up. He grunted in pain as he fell over as soon as he tried however and he landed on the grassy ground with a grunt. He instinctively rested a hand on his chest and winced when he touched his still bleeding bullet wound. The blood wasn't flowing as freely as it did before, but it still concerned him greatly.

"What the f-fuck..." the Code Talker hissed in pain as he clenched his hand over his wound.

He was a little surprised when he didn't feel a shirt under his hand and he felt very strange all over his body. Wondering why he felt so different, he looked down at his body. His dark brown eyes widened however when he saw army green scales covering his body and he looked reptilian in appearance.

The Code-Talker's hands and feet were replaced by animal-like paws while his arms and legs resembled the legs of a four legged animal. The scales on his underbelly were yellow-green in color, except for the red blood stains from his bullet wound. He then brought his right paw to his face to feel a snout on the lower part of his face. Upon further exploration, he discovered that he had four curved horns on his head and each of them were serrated.

'What the hell happened to me?! Am I a goddamn dragon?!' Dylan screamed in his head as he looked over his shoulder to see that he had bat-like wings with yellow-green wing membranes.

The American soldier felt something even more strange around his hindquarters and he looked further down his back to discover a muscular looking tail. On the side of the tip of his tail, a tailblade in the shape of a tomahawk made of gray bone could be seen. The blade looked like it could easily cut through flesh and despite how heavy it was, he felt like he could easily swing it around.

All of these unnatural changes made the former human scared. His heart started to pump rapidly as he stared at the army green scales covering his body. This combined with the battle he just went threw made him want to throw up.

Dylan's attention was brought back to the bullet would in his chest and he groaned quietly in pain as he added pressure to it using his left forepaw. He reasoned to himself that he'd figure out how he turned into this flying reptile later. For now, he wanted to tend to his wound.

Without any alcohol to clean the wound or numb the pain, the soldier shakily brought his right paw over the wound and flexed one of his claws. He inhaled deeply before he suddenly jabbed his claw into the bullet hole in his chest.

The pain was too great for the Code-Talker and he screamed at the top of his lungs as he dug the now bloody talon through the hole. Over the course of a few moments of digging around, he forced yet another talon in. He kept this up for what felt like an eternity before he yanked his paw away from his chest. A single bullet that was covered in blood and had a forcibly flattened tip could be seen between his two trembling claws.

Once the bullet was out of his chest, Dylan roughly pressed his left paw on the wound and hissed in horrible pain. As he did this, he roughly clenched the bloodstained 7.92x57mm bullet in his paw.

'That was a nightmare. I hope I never have to do that again.' he thought to himself as he panted heavily.

At that moment, the wounded dragon took the time to look around. He saw that he was in some kind of swamp and large mushrooms could be seen around him. Some of the mushrooms were as tall as trees, which amazed the former human. There were also green foliage around and the ground was covered in moist grass. Wherever he was, he definitely wasn't in France.

All of a sudden, the rustling of leaves could be heard not to far away. Dylan's head shot up and he looked towards the general direction the sound came from. He tried to stand up, but he only fell to the ground again when he tried.

"F-fuck... FLASH!" the injured Code-Talker called out and his dark brown eyes darted around the area in a very paranoid fashion.

There was no reply and Dylan felt a cold chill run up his spine. He flexed his bloodied claws and dropped the bullet he was holding. He refused to go down without some kind of fight, even if he could barely defend himself at the moment.

All of a sudden, an adult dragon with dark gray scales and a crimson red underbelly came out of the bushes. This dragon's wing membranes were pitch black, along with his horns. His horns went straight outward before they sharply curved forward to end in a point. His tail also ended with a blade that was pointed, similar to a bayonet. Lastly, the dragon's eyes were blue in color.

"Wer bist du? (Who are you?)" the gray scaled dragon questioned with a straight face.

Dylan didn't reply and his eyes narrowed at the new dragon because he recognized the language it spoke. Despite the fact that a dragon was talking to him, he knew German when he heard it. He didn't trust this dragon at all, especially when those Germans at Normandy gunned down his friends and fellow soldiers.

"Hallo? (Hello?)" the dragon spoke again as he took a step forward.

"Get away from me, you Nazi fuck!" Dylan shouted furiously as he waved his left paw in a horizontal swipe, aiming to deter the other dragon from getting any closer.

The German speaking dragon took a quick step back and frowned at the display. He looked away as if to consider his next action before he looked at the green dragon again. He slowly held up his right forepaw in a non-threatening matter and pointed a claw at himself.

"Oberschütze Fritz Brände." the gray colored dragon introduced himself with an emotionless tone of voice.

There was a short moment of silence after that and the two adult dragons simply stared at one another. After a few seconds of tense silence, Dylan finally replied.

"Go fuck yourself, Nazi." the Native American soldier replied with an unreadable expression.

Not knowing what else to say, Fritz simply sighed in annoyance. He noticed the bullet wound on the other dragon's chest however, which had stopped bleeding a little while ago. Dylan growled lightly when he noticed the other dragon staring however and they both looked into each others eyes.

"Um... I can speak some English if you vere vondering." the SS sniper spoke with a notable German accent and he snuck a glance at the bullet wound.

"Great, that means you'll understand me when I tell you to leave me alone " Dylan replied bitterly with an untrusting glare.

"Hey! I'm trying to be nice here, Amerikan!" the gray scaled dragon barked all of a sudden with a glare of his own.

"Hello! Is someone out there?!" they both heard a female voice call out all if a sudden.

"Um... over here!" Dylan called out; he had a feeling that yelling out "flash"'would be pointless at this point.

They both heard the sound of something running towards them and they instinctively tensed. A dragoness with red-orange scales ran into the clearing they were in and slowed down to a walk when she saw them. This dragoness had a brick red underbelly with yellow wing membranes. Six yellow horns could be seen jutting out of the back of her head and they ended at a straight point. She also had a yellow tailblade that resembled a spiked club.

"Vho are you?" Fritz questioned as he took a cautionary step back, still not used to seeing dragons.

"My name is Antända, the dragon Guardian of Fire. Don't you two know that it isn't safe to be out in the swamps by yourselves?" the fire dragoness replied sternly and she looked at them with her orange eyes.

Her expression softened however when she saw Dylan's wound. She walked over to him so she could get a closer look at his wound, making him a little nervous.

"There are some red spirit gems nearby. Want me to get you some?" she asked with a sympathetic tone of voice.

"Gems? With all due respect, ma'am... I need a doctor, not some pretty rocks." the Code-Talker commented and he flinched in pain when he tried to shift into a more comfortable position.

Antända was a little confused when he said that, but didn't say anything. She looked over to her right to see a cluster of red gems sticking out of the ground not too far away. She smiled as she made her way over to them and suddenly slashed her claw across it's smooth surface.

The fire dragoness' sharp claws caused a shard of the gem to fly off it's surface and it landed on the ground with a light thud. She then wrapped her tail around the shard and picked it up. Dylan and Fritz watched all of this with confused, yet interested expressions. Niether of them had any idea what she was doing.

"This should heal your wound." the Fire Guardian commented as she walked over to the wounded dragon and gently placed the red shard in front of him. "Just use your claws to break it." she added with a smile.

Dylan raised an eyebrow at this and he looked down at the glowing red gem. He had no idea how a rock would help heal a gunshot wound, but considering the fact that he was talking to a dragon, he decided to at least follow her advice. He placed one of his bloodied paws over the gem and began to drag his sharp claws over it's surface.

The red spirit gem was much more fragile than the Code-Talker expected and the shard easily broke into several pieces as it was cut. All of a sudden, the small pieces of of the shard began to float into the air and they somehow soured into the green dragon's body.

As the gem fragments were absorbed into the former human's body, the gunshot wound began to close up and heal. Even with it healed, a circular scar was left behind that would remain with him for the rest of his life.

"Überraschen… (Amazing.)" Fritz commented as he watched the spectacular display with wide eyes.

"You two must be new around here. Don't you have spirit gems where you come from?" the fire dragoness questioned with a raised eyebrow as her orange eyes darted between the two males.

The two male dragons simply shook their heads, no. Dylan groaned as he slowly stood up on his four legs. It felt weird being on all fours, but his tail helped him balance and he was able to stand on his own.

"Hm, strange. Well, we should probably head back to the temple now. Those damned apes could attack at any time." Antända commented and she turned around to leave.

Not having anywhere else to go, the two males decided to follow her. They were very confused when she mentioned apes attacking, but brushed their confusion to the side. Fritz figured that she was simply talking about the local wildlife while Dylan didn't give it any thought.

While they walked, the group of three had to trudge though many puddles of water. Dylan stopped at one point to quickly wash off the blood from his paws and chest before he quickly caught up to the others.

"So... what are your names?" the Guardian of Fire questioned as they walked through the wet swamp, most likely towards the temple she mentioned earlier.

"SS-Oberschütze Fritz Brände." the gray scaled dragon answered proudly and he puffed out his chest a little.

Antända looked over her shoulder at him with a confused expression. She's never even heard of a name like that. His name and rank sounded very alien to her.

"Ugh... just call me Brände, iff it pleases you." Fritz commented with a frown, not liking that she couldn't understand his full name and rank.

"Alright then, it's nice to meet you Brände." the Fire Guardian stated politely before she looked over at the green scaled dragon. "And your name?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

Considering the fact that she had trouble with Brände's name, Dylan figured that his name and rank would make her confused as well. For now, he decided to give himself a little codename.

"My name is Paskigan." Dylan stated; he chose this name because Paskigan is Abenaki for gun, which sounded very fitting considering the fact that he was a soldier.

"Interesting name. It's good to meet you as well." Antända replied with a kind smile.

Everyone remained quiet after that and they all walked in silence. They each had questions they wanted to ask each other, but now didn't seem like the best time to ask. For now, they simply walked through the swamp with their eyes forward.

* * *

After a few minutes of walking, Antända led Brände and Paskigan through some heavy foliage. Once they made it out of the bushes and into the open, they all saw what looked like a temple made out of stone materials in front of them. Many dragons of all ages and colors could be seen, and they were all walking around or laying down in the grass.

"Welcome to the Dragon Temple. You'll be safe here instead of our there in the wild." the Fire Guardian informed them as she walked with the two males behind her.

"I've been meaning to ask. How come it's so dangerous out there? And if it's so dangerous, why were you wandering around by yourself?" Paskigan questioned as they walked over to what looked like a garden.

"Don't you two know about the war going on right now?" Antända replied with a question of her own as she sat down on the grass.

"Vhy yes. The Vorld Var has been taking place in Europe and zeh Pacific for years." Brände answered quickly.

"Europe? Pacific? I've never heard if either of those places before. But I suppose you're right... this is a World War. The ape army has been terrorizing us dragons and everyone aligned with us for a couple years now." the Guardian of Fire informed them. "But to answer your second question, I was traveling by myself because their were reports of two purple lights coming from the swamp. Some people were scared that the Dark Master returned, so I volunteered to scout around the area." she added.

'We really aren't in France anymore. I don't even think this is Earth.' Paskigan thought to himself with a frown.

"Flashes of purple light? zat is strange. I found a crystal zat emitted a purple light." the German dragon commented, quickly gaining the others' attention.

"Wait, you did too?" Paskigan asked quickly, feeling slight relief that he wasn't the only one, even if the other person to find a purple crystal was his enemy.

"Ja, and it let out a bright light vhen I touched it." Brände answered with a nod.

"Well, that explains the light at least. Seems to me like you two came across some kind of dark gems or crystals. Do you still have these crystals?" the Fire Guardian questioned with a raised eyebrow.

The two males shook their heads at this and she let out a quiet sigh. She then stood up at a slow pace and looked over at the temple.

"I'm going to tell the other Guardians what that light was. Make yourselves at home, but don't be surprised if I come find you two again if the other Guardians want to speak to you." Antända informed them.

"Okay, have fun with that." Paskigan commented sarcastically, trying to lighten the mood at least a little.

The fire dragoness chuckled lightly before she started to walk towards the temple, leaving the two males to themselves. Once she was gone, they both looked at one another.

"Okay, now be honest with me. Are you a Nazi soldier?" Paskigan demanded with a calm tone of voice.

"I am with Zhe Waffen-SS und I am a sniper. I vas stationed in Ukraine to fight the Soviets." Brände answered truthfully, earning a sigh from the other dragon.

"United States Code-Talker. I took part in the landings of Normandy France after I was pulled out of Northern Africa." Paskigan informed the gray scaled dragon.

"Code-Talker? Zat's a Native American soldier, ja? I vatched a movie a year ago vid my commanding officer. Ist vas called Der 'Kalser von Kalifornien' und it had Indians in it. I've been fascinated by your culture ever since I vatched that film." Brände commeted with honest excitement.

"Yes, I am a Native American. I appreciate it that you like my culture, but please forgive me for not liking you. I just saw a bunch of your buddies mercilessly gun down my friends at Normandy." the green dragon replied bitterly and he gently placed a paw over the bullet scar on his chest.

The German dragon went silent upon hearing that and he slowly looked away. He admitted it to himself, he respected Native Americans because of the movie he and his commander watched together, but he didn't like being hated for what others have done to the soldier in front of him. Although, he didn't even concern himself with the irony of those thoughts.

Not really wanting to speak to each other, the two soldiers looked around the garden they were in. Brände looked up at the sky to see that it was about midday and that there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

Paskigan spotted two young dragons playfully running around the garden. One of them had red scales while the other had blue scales. The blue dragonling chased the red one and they laughed as they ran around.

"I'm gonna catch you, Ignitus!" the blue dragon spoke loudly with a voice that sounded very similar to a British accent.

"No you won't, Cyril!" the red scaled dragon replied with a cheerful laugh.

Paskigan and Brände watched the two children as they ran around the garden. When Ignitus wasn't watching where he was going however, he accidentally ran into Paskigan's leg and fell onto his rump with a surprised yelp. As this happened, Cyril skidded to a stop and looked up at the two adult dragons.

"Ugh.. sorry, mister." Ignitus apologized as he awkwardly stood up.

"Don't worry about it, kid." Paskigan replied with a straight face, but he thought the scene was kind of humorous.

Brände chuckled lightly as the two children awkwardly nodded and ran off to continue their game. The two adult dragons still found their whole situation strange and very worrisome, but the two kids did help calm their nerves.

Not knowing what else to do, Paskigan and Brände sat down on the grass, making sure to stay a few feet away from each other. As they sat in the grass, they watched the two children play while they waited for Antända to come back.


	3. Kindle the Fire

**Kwai kwai nidobak! I'm appreciating all the positive attention from you readers and I'm glad that those of you who've reviewed are enjoying the story. Just keep in mind, this story only getting started. I have a lot planned for the future of this story. Now then, remember to leave a review or send me a PM!**

**Historical Fact: When Nazi Germany invaded Poland in 1939, about 50,000 Polish babies and children were kidnapped by the Nazis and were adopted by German parents to become "Germanized." These kidnappings have taken place in other countries as well, including the Soviet Union and France.**

Chapter 3: Kindle the Fire

Within the garden outside of the Dragon Temple, Paskigan and Brände simply sat down in the green grass. They watched as the two young children, Ignitus, and Cyril, chased after each other and laughed playfully. Neither of them really had anything better to do at the moment and they didn't want to speak to all of the unfamiliar dragons that were around.

Neither one of them noticed as a single adult dragon with a skinny body walked up to them from behind them. This dragon was a male and he had bluish gray yes. His scales were light gray while his underbelly and wing membranes were white. Two white horns could be seen on both sides of his head and they curved back slightly. Unlike every other dragon around, he did not have a tailblade. Instead, five leather-like tendrils were at the end of his tail and they looked very similar to small whips.

This light gray dragon walked up to the two former humans and stopped when he was directly behind them. He then cleared his throat to gain their attention.

"Um, excuse me. Do you two happen to know where I can find the Guardians?" he asked the two soldiers as they looked over their shoulders at him.

"No, can't say that I know." Paskigan replied with a simple shrug.

"Ja, I don't ether. Ve saw the 'Guardian of Fire' not too long ago hovever." Brände added and he nodded toward the temple.

"Damn, I've been meaning to talk to them for months now. Plus my partner ran off while I had my back turned a few minutes ago." the light gray dragon commented with a light sigh at the end.

"If you don't mind me asking, why do you want to talk to them?" the green scaled dragon asked curiously with a raised eyebrow.

"Promise you won't laugh? I want to try to become the Guardian of Wind… the first Guardian of Wind." the skinny dragon informed them and he quickly looked away, as if he was expecting to get yelled at.

"Um… ve're sort of new here. Could you tell us a little about ze Guardians?" the German dragon questioned, taking the new dragon off guard.

"You guys are kidding me, right? The four elemental Guardians are in charge of basically everything involving dragons. There are four of them; Antända is the Guardian of Fire, Skalvet is the Earth Guardian, Breeze is the Ice Guardian, and Bolt is the Guardian of Electricity. There are four other elements though; wind, poison, fear, and shadows." the light gray dragon informed them. "Us dragons with the 'dark' elements don't have anyone as Guardians. Since I'm a wind dragon and I'm one of the most skilled with my element, I wish to try to get my element a place with the Guardians." he added with a look of determination.

The two former humans listened very carefully to everything the wind dragon had to say. They were glad to finally get some information on the local government and what they should expect from the Guardians. They were very surprised that the dragons had their very own elements rather than strictly fire, but upon looking at all the dragons' different colors, it did make sense.

"Well, we aren't from anywhere near this place; we actually just showed up. Name's Paskigan by the way." the Code-Talker commented and introduced himself with a slight nod at the end.

"No problem, I guess. My name is Turbo." the wind dragon replied before he looked over at the darker gray dragon.

"Vhy my name ist Bräde. I am an SS-Oberschütze wizzin the Waffen-SS." the German dragon introduced as he puffed his chest out a little, not hiding the fact that he was proud of his name and title.

Turbo was a little confused by the foreign words, but he was able to tell that Brände was some kind of soldier. He also noticed the other gray dragon's strange accent, but he didn't want to be rude and comment on it.

"So… what elements are you guys?" Turbo asked curiously as he looked at the two former humans.

"Um…" Paskigan started a little awkwardly and he glanced at Brände, who was flat out looking away.

Neither of them had any idea what their elements were and it was kind of hard to tell considering their slightly unique colorations. Before they could answer however, the three dragons heard Antända's voice call out to them.

"You two aren't much for exploring, are you!?" the Fire Guardian commented as she walked up to the three males.

Paskigan and Brände didn't respond to this and stayed quiet. They just didn't want to risk looking like idiots for not knowing anything about this strange world they were in. At that moment, the fire dragoness noticed Turbo's presence and looked over at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Is there something I can help you with?" she asked him with a polite tone of voice, yet she also sounded a little tired as well.

"Um, yes. I would like to speak to the Guardians, please." the wind dragon replied respectfully.

"You too, huh? There are three others discluding you three who need to speak with us. Okay… just follow me to the Pool of Visions room." Antända replied with a light sigh before she looked over at the temple and began to walk towards it.

The three males followed close behind her and they approached a large, circular door made out of some kind of stone or concrete. Paskigan and Brände visibly flinched when the door slid open by itself when they were close enough, but Turbo and Antända didn't notice.

The four dragons entered the temple to find themselves in a hallway that was crowded with young dragons. Judging by the conversations they were having, the two former humans hypothesized that the Dragon Temple doubled as a school of some kind. They decided not ot ask right now however and they all stayed quiet as they moved past the children and down the various hallways.

After a little over a minute of navigating, the group of four walked up to another circular door that opened by itself when they were close enough. They all walked through the open doorway into a room with a pool of green colored water in the center. There were six dragons standing around the pool and three of them looked older than the other three. They were all adults however.

"Here they are; the dragons who found those dark gems I told you about." Antända told the three older dragons as the door slid shut behind them. "There's also another dragon who wishes to become a Guardian." she added quickly.

The three older dragons nodded at this and all of the Guardians looked at the six newcomers. Just like what Turbo said earlier, the four elemental Guardians represented a different of their element and both Paskigan and Brände could tell who was who judging by the color of their scales. The blue one was Breeze, the yellow dragon was Bolt, and the green dragon was Skalvet.

Breeze was an ice dragoness with blue eyes. Her skinny body was covered in light blue scales while her wing membranes and underbelly were snow white. She had eight straight horns sticking out of the sides of her head and they were shaped like icicles. She also had a tailblade in the shape of a crescent.

The Electric Guardian, Bolt, had bright yellow scales with golden yellow eyes. His wing membranes were a golden color too and his underbelly was bronze in color. Two ram horns could be seen on his head and a serrated spade could be seen on the end of his tail. Lastly, his snout was a little shorter than other dragons Brände and Paskigan have seen.

Skalvet was the Earth Guardian with light brown eyes and a very muscular body with multiple battle scars decorating his muscles. He had muddy green scales with a light brown underbelly and wing membranes. Two blunt horns could be seen on the back of his head and his tail ended with a spiked club, similar to a morning star.

Bolt opened his mouth to begin this little meeting that was about to take place, but he was silenced when Turbo loudly spoke up.

"Donker! There you are, man. I've been looking all over for you." the wind dragon called out with a smile as he walked over to the only black scaled dragon in the room.

Donker was a male shadow dragon with scales as black as night. Both his wing membranes and underbelly were a very dark shade of blue that looked black from a distance. There was a horn on each side of his head as well as a third horn on the top of his head. Each of the three horns pointed straight back. His tailblade resembled the blade of a scythe and his eyes were deep blue.

"Hey, buddy. I told you I was gonna look for the Guardians inside the temple. Maybe if you didn't flirt with that earth dragoness, you would've heard me." Donker stated with a clever smirk.

Almost everyone in the room chuckled at this and Turbo simply scoffed. At that moment, Paskigan glanced at the other two dragons to get a good look at them. Not long after, Brände looked as well.

One of the two other dragons was a very muscular poison dragon with emerald green eyes. Judging by his flat facial expression, it was obvious that he was the serious type of person. His body was covered in black scales with green circular markings in various spots on his body. His underbelly and wing membranes were a sickly green color as well. He only had one horn that was planted on his forehead and it curved back, similar to a crescent moon. His muscular tail also ended with a skinny stinger that resembled that of a scorpion.

The other dragon was a female fear dragon with blood red eyes. Crimson red scales could be seen over her curvy body that would've looked attractive to other dragons. Both her underbelly and wing membranes were jet black and she had a matching set of horns that curved forward slightly. She had a total of eight horns. A tailblade that resembled a spearhead was also at the end of her skinny tail.

"Alright, alright, that's enough." Breeze spoke up with a slight chuckle, still finding Turbo and Donker's greeting to be funny. "Now then, you two should probably introduce yourselves since we still don't know your names." she commented as she looked at the fear and poison dragons.

"My name is Fasa." the fear dragoness introduced herself with a slight nod.

"Toxicon." the poison dragon stated with a straight face and he blankly stared at the four Guardians.

"Nice to meet you. Now then, you four came here because you wish to become Guardians." Antända commented as she and the other Guardians sat down on seating pillows on the other side of the Pool of Visions.

"Well, that's why Turbo and I came here." Donker spoke up. "I think it's unfair that fire, ice, earth, and electric dragons have a place within the Guardians, but none of the others. And I plan to prove to you that I'm worthy of being the first Shadow Guardian." he added confidently and with no hesitation.

"I agree. I've fought against the apes since they first started attacking us dragons and I've been praised for doing my best in combat. I want to try to become the Poison Guardian." Toxicon agreed with a nod at the beginning; this also caused Turbo and Fasa to nod as well.

"The Guardians have always consisted of fire, earth, electric, and ice dragons. I don't see any reason why we should change it now, especially when we're in the middle of a war." Bolt commented with a dismissive wave of his paw.

"Maybe if you vere Aryan, you vould have more political power…" Brände mumbled very quietly to himself.

Paskigan was the only one who heard however and he looked over at the German dragon with a death glare. He didn't like hearing racism and prejudice thoughts like that.

"Every element should have a place with the Guardians. How do you expect all dragons to work together if half of them have absolutely no chance of becoming Guardians? How is that fair?" Fasa demanded with a frustrated frown.

"Please understand, it's not like we hate the dark elements. We just don't think it's a good idea to change our government when we're in the middle of a war that threatens all of us. The apes are just as powerful as we are and with each passing day, they grow stronger." Antända reasoned with a light sigh at the end.

"If only mein Führer vas here." Brände spoke up, gaining everyone's attention. "If ve could somehow bring the Fourth Reich to this place, then ve could surely crush these apes you speak ov." he explained and he sounded very prideful in his Fatherland's capabilities.

"Oh sure, they'd help. Your Nazi buddies would also start shooting everyone including you for not being a white human." Paskigan commented irritably, earning a glare from the German.

"They obviously don't like each other." Turbo mumbled to Donker, who nodded.

"What are you two talking about?" Breeze asked the two former humans as everyone looked at the them with great confusion.

Instead of answering however, the two soldiers began to argue.

"Vould you just let me make positive suggestions? Zese dragons need help und I'm trying to think of how ve could help zem." Brände spoke with an angry tone of voice that slowly rose in volume.

"Yeah, big fuckin' help! Your stupid Führer started a war that's killed millions of people, including my friends! If it wasn't for Hitler, I'd be home with my wife right now!" Paskigan screamed furiously as he took a threatening step forward.

"Ich sollte Sie gerade im Augenblick töten! (I should kill you straight at this moment!)" the German screamed at the top of his lungs and smoke could be seen coming out of his nostrils.

"ENOUGH!" Skalvet boomed loudly as he stepped between the two soldiers. "I don't care what you two are talking about, but I will not tolerate any fighting in here! This is a room of peace!" the Earth Guardian yelled with authority in his voice.

"He and the other Nazis killed my friends." Paskigan hissed before he whipped around and stormed out.

"Oh dear…" Breeze murmured as everyone watched the Code-Talker leave.

"I'll go talk to him. The rest of you continue without me." Antända told everyone before she rushed after Paskigan and made her way through the open doorway.

Once she and Paskigan were gone, the stone door slide closed behind them. The remaining three Guardians were happy that they didn't have to stress themselves with trying to talk the four "dark" dragons out of trying to become Guardians, but now they had to deal with Brände and that mysterious argument he was just in.

"Okay… what in the name of the Ancestors was that about?" Skalvet demanded as he looked over at the German dragon.

"Ah, you vill zzink I'm crazy if I tell you." Brände scoffed irritably as Turbo, Donker, Fasa, and Toxicon simply listened.

"Try us. I've personally seen very strange things in my life." the Earth Guardian replied with a straight face.

At first, the SS soldier didn't reply, but he seemed to be really thinking about what he would say next. Finally, he started talking again.

"I've never seen or heard from a dragon since I've come to zis place. I vas never a dragon before today eizzer. Paskigan and I are from a place very different zan zis vorld. Ve vere both a species called humans." Brände explained to everyone, who were wordlessly listening. "I am from the glorious country of Germany. Ve have taken control of almost an entire continent because of our strength." he added pridefully.

"And let me guess, Paskigan's from a country against this 'Germany."' Skalvet figured, surprisingly believing the dark gray dragon.

"Ja… he is from ze United States of Amerika, which ist across ze ocean from Germany. I never fought ze Amerikans though, I vas fighting ze Soviet Union on the Eastern Front." Brände explained to him.

"Skalvet, you honestly don't believe this nonsense, do you?" Bolt asked very quickly with a raised eyebrow.

"I do believe him, actually. He's looking directly at me and he isn't lying. Besides, Antända told us that they found some kind of dark crystal. Anything can happen with those damned things." the Earth Guardian replied as he looked at the other two Guardians.

"This is crazy, but we don't have any reason not to believe him." Breeze commented with a sigh.

"I still think this is ludicrous." Bolt mumbled to himself, sounding very annoyed by this turn of events.

The German dragon sighed in relief upon hearing that while the other four dragons looked at him with skeptical expressions. At that moment, they all went silent, not sure what else to say. It was Donker however, who broke the silence.

"Listen, I know a lot just happened, but what about us? What the hell do we have to do in order to prove to you that we are capable of being Guardians?" the shadow dragon questioned as he motioned to himself, Toxicon, Fasa, and Turbo.

Skalvet sighed heavily and glanced at the other two Guardians, who looked like they were very much against the idea of making them Guardians. He then stood up and walked over to them.

"I think I have an idea." he whispered quietly so only the Guardians could hear.

The Guardian of Earth had a plan to get those four off of the Guardians' back and possibly get some extra help in this war they were fighting.

* * *

In the halls outside of the Pool of Visions room, Paskigan could be seen storming down the hallway and he was breathing heavily in anger. Antända was a little ways behind him and trying to catch up to him.

"Paskigan! Paskigan, wait! I wanna talk to you!" she called out from behind him.

The Code-Talker growled deep in his throat, but didn't say anything. He slowed down to a stop before he slowly turned around to face the fire dragoness.

"What do you want from me?" he questioned with an emotionless tone of voice.

"I want to talk about what just happened back there. Why are you two so angry at each other? Why does he have that strange accent? Where did you two come from exactly?" the Fire Guardian questioned with a sigh at the beginning.

"Do you mind if I be blunt? We're not from this crazy dragon place. We were never dragons, we were humans… and Brände is a Nazi, a fascist. He and all of his people were brainwashed by his government to follow their orders like obedient dogs and kill innocent people." Paskigan explained to her with a distressed frown.

"Another world, you mean? Are you sure you haven't hurt your head?" Antända asked with honest concern in her voice.

"No, I hurt my chest when a damn Nazi shot me! And my muscles ache right now because I had to run up a beach while a fuck-ton of Nazis were trying got kill me. I saw hundreds of people die… all in mere minutes." he explained loudly at first, but gradually quieted down.

The Fire Guardian wasn't exactly sure how to respond to this, but she didn't want to say anything about how unrealistic that all sounded to her. She made a mental note to inform the other Guardians about this. For now, she needed to get him back to the Pool of Visions room so they could all talk together.

"Look, Paskigan… I know you may not want to be near Brände right now, but we need to go back. There are a lot of things we all need to talk about, including that dark crystal that brought you and Brände here." Antända told him with a gentle tone of voice.

The Code-Talker sighed heavily at this. He really didn't want to go back in there while that German sniper was in there, but something told him that he should at least listen to what the Guardians had to say about his predicament.

"Alright… I'll go back with you." the former human told her with a frown.

"Thank you, Paskigan. Now c'mon, let's head back." the Fire Guardian replied with a small smile and she used her wing to motion back where they came from.

Paskigan just nodded in response to this and silently walked by her side back down the hallway. He didn't know what this place had in store for him, but that wasn't what mattered to him at the moment. His main goal at the moment was finding a way back to his own world.


	4. Yet Another War

**Kwai kwai everyone! I would just like to apologize for the long wait. The recent snowstorms and such in my area have been keeping me preoccupied lately, but I should have more time to write now. I hope you readers enjoy the chapter. Remember to leave a review or send me a PM!**

**Historical Fact: Most people are aware that Nazi Germany declared war on the United States soon after the U.S. declared war on the Empire of Japan, but most don't know that Adolf Hitler never wanted to go to war with the U.S.A. When he learned that the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and the Pacific War between the two countries began, he was enraged and shocked because that meant he would have to declare war on the U.S. in order to keep peaceful relations with Japan. Fighting the United States was the last thing that Hitler wanted.**

Chapter 4: Yet Another War

In the Pool of Visions room within the Dragon Temple, the circular door on the side of the room slid open, gaining everyone's attention. They watched as Antända led Paskigan into the room and he seemed to be staring at the ground, not wanting to look at anyone.

"Hey buddy… you okay?" Donker awkwardly asked the Code-Talker with a worried facial expression.

"No." the former human replied honestly with a heavy sigh and he glanced at Brände. 'Hitler worshipping bastard.' he thought bitterly to himself.

The shadow dragon didn't comment after that and looked over at the Guardians. Everyone followed his example and switched their gazes to the four elemental Guardians, who were mumbling amongst each other. They were all wondering what they were murmuring about, but the six dragons respectively stayed quiet for them. Finally, the four Guardians ceased their murmurs and looked at the waiting dragons.

"Okay, we have come to a decision." Skalvet announced before he cleared his throat. "We will not grant you the title of Guardians nor will we allow anyone wielding the dark elements to become a Guardian. However, we will seriously consider allowing those with the dark elements to become Guardians once this war is over. In the meantime… Fasa, Donker, Turbo, and Toxicon… we would like to offer you a position in an elite team of skilled dragons who will fight the ape armies." he explained with a straight face, earning some confused expressions from the "dark" dragons.

"We know it isn't exactly what you wanted, but Guardians need to prove that they are capable of being Guardians anyway. If you accept this, your chances of becoming Guardians after the war will be significantly higher." Breeze added with a small smile at the end.

The four "dark" dragons glanced at one another and they seemed to consider this opportunity. They didn't exactly like it, but it was probably the best chance they were going to get.

"Okay, we accept these terms." Fasa spoke up as they looked back at the Guardians.

"Excellent, we're glad to hear that." Antända replied with a pleased smile. "Now then, about you two." she said as everyone looked over at the two former humans.

"We would like you to join our friends here in this new elite team. The ape army has access to some very powerful magic and dark gems. It's possible that you could come across something that could bring you back to your own realm." Skalvet told them with a straight face.

"If it means getting back home to my wife, then I'll help out." Paskigan stated quickly, surprising everyone.

"Well, welcome aboard, friend." Donker replied with a kind smile and a few others smiled as well.

"And what about you?" Bolt asked as he turned to face Brände.

"Hm… I zzink I vill join your group too. As much as zzis dragon form intrigues me, I vould like mein thumbs back. Plus, der Führer needs mein services." the SS sniper replied as he looked down at his front paws and pitch black claws at the ends of his toes.

'Well, this is going better than I thought it would.' the Earth Guardian thought to himself and he cracked a barely noticeable smile. "Very good. All six of you will be a good asset to our causes." he told them all.

"Cool. So… now that we've all agreed to do this, what should we do first?" Turbo questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"We have been receiving reports that the ape army have been moving southward and into the Shattered Vale. Now, we don't want you to start getting into any fights. We just want confirmation that there are apes there. It would be best to keep this quiet." Bolt explained to them. "You know where that is, right?" he asked them.

"Yeah, I know where it is. I went there with my father once when I was a kid." Donker answered with a smile.

"Excellent. Don't worry about going out immediately though. I recommend you stay here at the temple for a day or two before heading out. After all, two of you aren't even from this realm… supposedly." the Electric Guardian stated and the Breeze nodded in agreement.

"Is there anything else we need to know about our mission? Is there any chances that we'll run into the Dark Master's generals?" Fasa asked curiously and she raised one of her eyebrows.

"No, we don't believe you'll be facing any of them. At best, you'll fight one or two simple apes." Antända answered reassuringly.

"If there are no other questions, this meeting is dismissed." Skalvet stated loudly and with authority in his voice.

With that said: Fasa, Turbo. Donker, Toxicon, Brände, and Paskigan turned around and calmly walked out of the Pool of Visions room. When the stone door slid shut behind them, Toxicon started talking.

"The nerve of them, having us do their bidding and claiming it will help us become Guardians. I don't think even want to think about making us Guardians." the poison dragon commented angrily as they all walked down one of the hallways.

"I agree, it's kinda unfair that we have to do this, but it's better than nothing. We have a closer chance of becoming Guardians than most others of our kind." Fasa replied with a light sigh at the beginning.

"Why do you guys care about becoming Guardians so much? I don't get it." Paskigan questioned with honest curiosity.

"Ugh, there's a lot we have to explain to you two. Let's get to the room we rented and we'll explain everything and answer your questions." Donker assured as he glanced at the two soldiers.

Without any further questions from the Code-Talker, the group of six made their way to the guests' living area and approached one of the doors. The circular door slid open upon approach and they all walked inside. Once they were all in, the door closed behind them.

The room was fairly small, but it was just big enough to fit them all. Despite its small size, the room contained eight sleeping pillows, which suggested that the room was occupied by other dragons before they rented the room. There was a small window in the corner of the room that allowed them to see the mushroom swamp outside as well. The window also provided them a little natural light.

"It's a little cramped, but it's better than sleeping in the gardens or something." Turbo commented as he and the other "dark" dragons sat down on the sleeping pillows.

Taking the hint, Paskigan and Brände awkwardly sat down on the pillows as well. Their new dragon bodies still felt very strange to them and it showed via their overly cautious body language.

"Okay… let's try something out. You can ask us anything you want and we'll answer. In turn, we'll ask you some questions. Sound fair?" the wind dragon offered with a small smile.

"Sure, I guess." the Code-Talker replied with a simple shrug.

"I zzink I'll ask a question first. Vhy is there a var here?" Brände asked the question that was own both the former human's minds.

"That's kind of a complicated answer, but you two deserve to know." Fasa spoke as she laid on her belly on her pillow. "Many years ago in a time that's mostly forgotten, a purple dragon was born and it was the only purple dragon in existence. Unlike other dragons, who could only control one element, this dragon had the power to control every known element; both light and dark. Even after he mastered all of the elements, he still wasn't satisfied with the power he had and strived to achieve more power." the fear dragoness began.

"The Guardians and Ancestors feared that he would allow his greed for power would make him do bad things, so the purple dragon was banished." Toxicon continued. "The dark dragon fled to the mountains to the west and allied himself with the apes. They began to call him the Dark Master when he taught them how to use dragon magic. And with the help of the apes, he started a war against all dragonkind as a sort of revenge." he finished the tale.

"So basically… the war is the Guardians' fault." Paskigan commented with a frown.

"Well, kinda… the Dark Master was gonna turn evil eventually, but the Guardians did give him that last push." Donker replied as he scratched the back of his head.

"Well, now it's our turn. Why do you two hate each other so much?" Turbo questioned and everyone else seemed to want to know as well.

"Simple, we're on separate sides." the Code-Talker answered vaguely with a straight face.

"Ja… in our vorld, there is a massive var taking place. Almost every country ist fighting, but zzere are two main factions. Ze cursed Allies… und ze glorious Axis powers. Germany, my country, ist part of the Axis and ve are in control of almost ze entire continent of Europe." Brände explained with proudness in his tone of voice.

"And I'm American, which is part of the Allies." Paskigan added a little quietly and he took a moment to quickly glare at the German sniper before he looked at the others again.

"Well… I guess that makes sense." the wind dragon commented a little awkwardly as he scratched the back of his head.

There was a small moment of silence after that was said and the two former humans thought about what they'd ask next. Finally, Paskigan asked the next question.

"So… if the Dark Master started this whole war, then where is he now?" he questioned curiously with a raised eyebrow.

"He was sealed away in another realm called Convexity. The Ancestors sent him there a few years after the war started. Right now, the apes are doing his bidding because he can still talk to them somehow." Donker answered with a frown.

The two former humans looked very confused by this explanation, so Toxicon spoke up to elaborate.

"Convexity is basically another world where an element only purple dragons can use comes from. The Dark Master was banished there for an untold amount of time. Yet recently, he found a way to communicate to the apes and they're now waging war against us dragons again." the poison dragon explained as he looked at the two soldiers with a straight face.

"Shit…" Paskigan commented as he looked down at the floor, thinking about what he just heard; thinking how this sounded like one of those fantasy novels his wife read all the time.

That whole concept sounded ludicrous to the two humans, but considering the strange world they were in and the dragons, they decided to accept this explanation. The two former humans were brought back to reality when Fasa started speaking.

"I kind of want to know a little more about that war back at your home realm. Why is it being fought and who's fighting who?" she asked curiously with interest in her red eyes.

"Okay, zzere are two factions, as I mentioned. Ze Axis and ze Allies. Ze main factions in ze Axis ist Germany, Italy, and Japan, but Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria are aligned vid ze Axis as vell." Brände explained with a small smile.

"The Allies are almost everyone else. The United States of America, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, Canada, and many others. Now there are many reasons why we're all at war, but the main reason is imperialism. The Axis powers wanted more territory and committed war crimes in the process. So, the Allies stepped in to stop them. My country joined the war after the Empire of Japan attacked one of our main navy bases, Pearl Harbor. In retaliation, we declared war on Japan. And then Germany and Italy declared war on us." Paskigan told the dragons, who all listened with great interest.

"Ja, and Germany began to rage var on Europe to gain back OUR rightful land. Ve are ze superior country, so ve deserve the extra land. Plus, ze extra recourses is alvays nice." the German dragon commented after some thought.

'These guys are like, polar opposites.' Turbo thought to himself as everyone watched the two former humans glare at one another.

"SO… do either of you know what your element is?" Donker asked loudly, gaining everyone's attention.

"Ugh… pardon?" Brände replied with a question and he raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"I think he's talking about what breath we breathe. Like, fire and all that shit." Paskigan told the dragon as he rolled his dark brown eyes.

"I guess I should take that as a 'no.'" the shadow dragon commented quietly as his head drooped a little.

"Well, you guys won't be able to do much in battle without at least knowing what element you have." Fasa commented as she stood up.

Taking the hint, Donker, Turbo, and Toxicon also stood up. The two former humans were a little confused by this, but they decided to get up as well.

"Are we going somewhere? I thought you were gonna tell us why you want to become Guardians." the Code-Talker questioned, voicing his and Brände's confusion.

"Don't worry, we'll explain as we walk. We're gonna bring you guys to the back of the temple right now. I'm sure we'll be able to find out your elements before the day's out." the fear dragoness replied cheerfully as they left their room and walked down the hallway they found themselves in.

"To put it simply, the Guardians are in charge of teaching young dragons how to live in the world, but only talented dragons can be taught by the Guardians. They're also in charge of most of the politics revolving around dragons." Donker informed the two soldiers while they walked, earning nods of understanding from Paskigan and Brände.

The two former humans followed close behind their four companions until they were outside and a little ways away from the temple. They were fairly close to the large mushrooms that consisted of the wild swamps, but they were still close enough to the building that they were in the grassy area.

"Okay, so I'm guessing that neither of you know the first thing about using elements." Toxicon figured while he looked at the two former humans with a straight face.

"Well, I can use a match to light my cigarette. Speaking of which, I could really use one right about now." Paskigan commented half-jokingly, earning a chuckle from Turbo and Donker.

"One, smoking is bad for you. And two, that's not using the elements." the poison dragon replied sharply with a slight sigh. "I think I can teach you to at least unlock your elements, but you need to concentrate in order to do it." he added sternly.

The two soldiers glanced at one another before they looked back at their potential teacher and nodded in understanding. They both figured that it would be best to learn something that could possibly make them stronger. It wasn't like they had thumbs to use guns anymore.

"Now then, close your eyes and clear your minds." Toxicon instructed and was pleased to see them doing just as he told them to do. "Now then, look within yourselves and tell me how you feel." he told them.

"Vhy, I don't feel shit." Brämde commented grumpily as he barely even concentrated.

The four "dark" dragons shook their heads at this, knowing all too well that he wasn't trying that hard. Toxicon was about to lecture him, but stopped when Paskigan started talking.

"I feel… some kind of energy. It feels chaotic… and it wants out…" he murmured as he started to breath heavily.

"Okay, Paskigan. Turn around and channel that energy up your throat. Hold it there until you can't any more… and then open your mouth." the poison dragon told him as the German sniper opened his eyes to watch.

Doing as told, the Code-Talker slowly turned around and faced the mushroom swamps near them. He could feel the erratic energy move up his esophagus and in the back of his throat. Slowly, he opened his dark brown eyes and parted his jaws. All of a sudden, a bolt of blue-green lightning shot out of his open mouth and struck a giant mushroom. Everyone watched with wide eyes as the unique form of electricity turned a large portion of the mushroom black and it lit on fire from the energy that just struck it. Paskigan panted lightly as he stared at the destruction he caused with shock and he slowly turned to face the others.

"Did I just do that?" he asked quietly.

"Yes, you did. I've never seen electricity with color like that before either." Toxicon replied with a nod of confirmation.

"So… he's some kind of unique electric dragon? Wow." Turbo commented while he looked at the Code-Talker with newfound respect.

"Alright, alright… I vant to see vhat element I have." Brände stated quickly with a straight face, but he was actually kind of jealous that Paskigan learned his element before he could.

"Alright; just close your eyes and focus this time." the poison dragon replied as he turned to look at the German dragon.

With a light sigh, the gray colored dragon closed his eyes and concentrated. For what felt like forever to him, he finally felt something relatively foreign within him. He didn't bother telling everyone what it was, but he felt like he was having the mother of all heartburns. He chose to focus this heat up through his throat and he shifted his legs so he was facing the mushroom swamps.

When Brände felt like he was ready, he opened both his eyes and his mouth. He was greatly surprised to see a wall of deep blue flames shoot out of his mouth and the lower parts of the giant mushroom he was looking at was engulfed by the blue flames. He quickly cut off the flow of fire and watched as the blue flames lingered on the stalk of the mushrrom.

"I don't like you… but shit." Paskigan commented to the Nazi as he looked between the two heavily damaged mushrooms.

The group of six watched as a few ice dragons ran up to the large mushrooms and used their ice element to extinguish the flames the two soldiers created. Once the flames were doused, the ice dragons looked at the group with mixed expressions. Some were frustrated while others were amazed.

"Ugh, sorry! We weren't expecting that to happen!" Turbo called out awkwardly.

None of the ice dragons commented, but they looked at Paskigan and Brände with strange expressions before they made their leave. Once they were gone, Donker began to walk back to the temple. The others soon followed him because they wanted to talk about what just happened in privacy. It was obvious that the two former humans were now very powerful dragons.


	5. Beginning a Journey

**Kwai kwai nidobak! I would just like to apologize for the long wait; other things have been keeping me busy lately. I will try to post chapters more frequently than I have been so far. Remember to leave a review or send me a PM!**

**Historical Fact: One of the most decorated soldiers in the Canadian army in World War II was Sergeant Tommy Prince. Prince was a Native American member of the Devil's Brigade during the war and he also volunteered to fight in the Korean War afterwards. He's done many brave things during both wars, but one of the things he did was sneak into German machine gun bunkers in the middle of the night. He then proceeded to kill everyone one-by-one with a Bowie knife. As he did this, he was never seen once while he did this. This was just one of his many seemingly inhuman accomplishments.**

Chapter 5: Beginning a Journey

A few hours have passed since Brände and Paskigan displayed their powers outside the temple. To say that they were amazed by their accomplishments would be an understatement. While the American soldier mostly stayed quiet about it, the German sniper constantly stated how amazed he was. Most of the group just tuned him out after awhile and ignored him.

At the moment, the six dragons were sitting around in their rented room. They had just finished eating dinner in the cafeteria and they were now discussing their plans. There was even a world map resting in the center of the room so everyone could look at it.

"Alright, so the Shattered Vale is directly west of here and south of the Mountain of Malefor. If we head straight west tomorrow morning, we'll probably get there in four or five hours." Toxicon informed everyone with a stern expression.

"That sounds about right. What should we bring with us?" Fasa questioned as she looked at the Shattered Vale on the map.

"Water and food is always a good start. Maybe a compass too." Paskigan spoke up with a straight face.

"Ja, and some cigarettes vould be nice." Brände added with a light nod.

"We'll bring those things, yes. Other than that, we'll have to make do with what we find out there." the poison dragon replied as he stood up. "I recommend you all get some sleep. I'm gonna get the supplies we need." he informed everyone before he walked over to the door and left.

Everyone glanced at one another before one-by-one, they laid down in their sleeping pillows and closed their eyes. It was a little awkward for the two former humans at first, but after much shifting, they finally got into comfortable positions and slept. They had a lot to do tomorrow and they'd need all the rest they could get.

* * *

The next morning, Paskigan, Brände, Toxicon, Donker, Turbo, and Fasa were flying over a thick forest. They had been flying for a few hours now and it was about late morning at that moment. The group of six made idle chit chat every once in awhile, but they mostly stayed quiet.

Turbo and Donker were the ones who were talking most of the time. They would usually make childish jokes and laugh. At one point, the wind dragon looked at Paskigan.

"So, how's it feel to be able to spit that weird electricity of yours!?" he asked loudly over the wind.

"Strange! But I think it'll be useful; even though I prefer using a rifle!" the Code-Talker answered loudly as he straightened his wings to glide through the air.

Turbo smiled at this response and nodded. He opened his mouth to ask something else, but he quickly went into a coughing fit when a bug flew into his mouth, causing most of the group to laugh.

"Dumbass! You're not supposed to look straight ahead when you talk while flying!" Donker laughed loudly with amusement.

Toxicon rolled his eyes at the two dragons and flew next to Paskigan, who quickly noticed the muscular poison dragon.

"What kind of soldier were you again!?" the one horned poison dragon questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Code-Talker! I speak through radios in Native American languages so the enemy can't translate Allied messages!" Paskigan answered with a straight face.

"And how good of a fighter are you!?" Toxicon asked his next question.

"I was trained by the U.S. military to kill my enemy! I can take care of myself just fine!" the American soldier answered assuringly.

The poison dragon nodded before he looked at the others. He wanted to know what everyone else was good at. The others seemed to understand what he wanted and Fasa spoke first.

"I'm not much of a fighter and I don't like fighting, but I can use my fear element to scare our enemies!" she explained quickly.

"And I'm pretty good at sneaking around! I used to sneak into the girls' bathroom when I was younger!" Donker stated with a toothy smirk, earning a glare from the fear dragoness.

"I'm not much of a fighter either, but I'm the fastest flyer from my home town, Collington!" Turbo yelled proudly with a smile.

"Vell, I am a skilled sniper, vhich you probably already know!" Brände stated as he puffed out his chest a little.

Toxicon seemed to be satisfied with their responses and looked ahead. He felt everyone staring at him however and looked back at the other five dragons.

"And what are you good at!?" Paskigan was the one to ask what everyone was thinking.

The poison dragon didn't answer at first and the Code-Talker was about to ask again, but the other dragon cut him off.

"I charge toward the enemy and attack them before they can register what's happening! I'm also fairly good with poisons!" Toxicon answered loudly so everyone could hear him clearly.

Everyone smiled at the muscular poison dragon's answer and nodded. They then looked ahead to see the forest below grow much more dense than before. Fasa smiled as she looked at the familiar forest.

"Welcome to the Shattered Vale, everyone!" the fear dragoness said loudly.

The five male dragons quickly looked around the new area they were in and some of them smile, happy that they were now at their destination. The only question now was where they should start looking for the apes.

"I zink ve should land and plan our next move!" Brände commented loudly, receiving nods of agreement from the others.

Everyone began to glide down to the thick forest blow until they were past the tree branches and they landed in a small clearing. Once they were all firmly on the ground, Donker, Turbo, and Fasa sat down on their hunches while the others looked around the area they were in.

"So, what are we supposed to do exactly? Search the whole province for apes?" the wind dragon asked curiously as he looked at his companions.

"That's the mission, so we'll have to do just that." Paskigan replied with a light sigh.

"Ugh! That will take FOREVER!" Donker complained with his head tilted back so he was looking upwards.

Toxicon simply rolled his eyes before he walked over to Brände with a straight face. The SS sniper immediately noticed the poison dragon and looked over at him.

"Since you're a sniper, I'm assuming you have good eyesight. Come with me and we'll take a quick look at the surrounding area." Toxicon told the gray colored dragon before he spread his wings and flew upwards.

Brände quickly did the same to catch up and the two male dragons flew just above the trees. There were what looked like endless forests all around them, but something caught the German's eye; something that the poison dragon didn't notice.

"Zhere ist smoking in ze distance. I zink it might be a camp or somezing." he stated as he and the muscular poison dragon used their wings to hover above a tree.

Toxicon frowned and squinted his eyes as he looked where his former human companion was looking. After a bit of looking, he could in fact see light colored smoke in the distance. It seemed to be controlled, so that meant that people were tending to the fire.

"I can see why you're a sniper now. Let's head back and tell the others." the poison dragon stated as he nodded towards the small clearing the other dragons were resting in.

The German dragon nodded and they both flew back down into the clearing, catching everyone's attention. Once they landed, the poison dragon started speaking.

"Brände found a fire from what looks like a campsite in the distance and we're going to investigate it. We can't fly there however because we'll risk being spotted, so we have to walk. Also, everyone needs to stay quiet." Toxicon informed everyone.

"This mission is feeling more and more like The Hobbit with each passing second." Paskigan mumbled under his breath as he and the others stood up.

"What's The Hobbit?" Fasa asked curiously as she looked at the Code-Talker.

"It's a book from my world. I'll explain later." he replied dismissively and the group began to follow Toxicon and Brände into the forest.

The group walked through the wilderness as quietly as they possibly could and didn't utter a word as they went. After awhile however, the group could hear talking not too far ahead of them. They all stopped when they heard the voices and stayed quiet so they could listen in.

"…we have to gain a foothold in this place. If Lord Malefor wants us to build a fort here, then we're gonna do it. This spot seems fitting enough anyway, so we'll need to split into groups to gather materials." the group of six heard a male voice speak with authority.

Donker let his curiosity get the better of him and he moved ahead of the group, much to their disapproval. The shadow dragon didn't make a single sound as he moved ahead however and he ducked down behind a bush. He then looked out so see a very large number of apes wearing iron armor and carrying various weapons ahead. His blue eyes widened however, when he saw the person who was speaking earlier.

A single fire dragon with crimson red scales could be seen barking orders at the apes. This dragon seemed to be middle aged, but he was still strong looking. His underbelly and wing membranes were both a dirty yellow color. Two purple horns that resembled devil horns were firmly planted on his head and his arrowhead shaped tailblade was yellow. On the dragon's front forelegs, two golden anklets could be seen, which showed off his wealth. He also wore a bronze necklace with a purple gem in the center of it. The whites of his eyes were an unnatural yellow color while his pupils were black slits. Lastly, dark red spikes could be seen running down his spine and tail.

Donker had to cover his mouth to muffle his heavy breathing and he made his way back to the rest of the group as silently as possible. The group quietly moved away from the ape encampment so they could talk quietly without risk of being overheard.

"What did you see?" Toxicon questioned with a straight face.

"I… I saw Red." the shadow dragon answered quietly and everyone besides the two former humans visibly shivered from this news.

"Who's Red?" Paskigan asked casually, not seeing how someone with such a simple name could instill fear in his new allies.

The other four dragons glanced at one another before they turned to look at the Code-Talker and Brände. They seemed a little unsure what to say in regards to this question, but they all knew that the two former humans deserved to know.

"Red was the Guardian of Fire before Antända." Fasa began with a light sigh. "No one knows why, but he one day resigned from his duties and left the temple. There have been rumors that he's joined the ape army." she explained with a worried expression.

"Red is a very powerful fire dragon, even more powerful than Antända. It's also been said that he doubles as a wizard of some kind." Turbo added, sounding just as nervous.

"Vell, ve could just kill zis guy from a distance." Brände suggested quietly and he quickly glanced over his shoulder to make sure no apes were listening in on them.

"I don't think that'd be a good idea. We were told just to see if apes were in the Shattered Vale and that we weren't supposed to engage unless we were attacked." Donker whispered with a distressed look on his face.

"We should at least try. Besides, that guy has a purple crystal. That could be the same type of crystal that brought me and the Nazi here." Paskigan replied with a heavy frown, earning an annoyed glare from Brände.

Everyone went silent after the Code-Talker said that. If they had to do anything else, then they would've acted against the Guardians' orders in order to prove their capabilities, but Red was no laughing matter to them. This single dragon was more experienced than them all and a frontal assault would most likely get them killed.

"If we sneak up on him, we might have a chance to take him out." Toxicon stated, earning a surprised look from Turbo, Donker, and Fasa.

"Are you sure that's the best thing to do?" the wind dragon questioned a little nervously.

"No, but if we can do this, then we could put a major dent in the apes' leadership. If the rumors are true, then he's working his way up the ranks of the ape army." the poison dragon answered quietly.

The other three dragons didn't seem to like this, but they all nodded in understanding. They then looked at the two former humans, who were both eager to do this.

"Let's go." Toxicon whispered with a hardened expression.

With that said, the group of six silently walked over to the bush that Donker was hiding behind earlier. They could now all see Red standing in the center of the clearing full of apes. Luckily, he was facing away from the group and speaking to a few large apes. Now one seemed to notice the six hiding dragons.

"Brände, gather your fire element in the back of your throat and hold it there. Try to form the flames into a ball." the poison dragon whispered as quietly as he possibly could.

The gray scaled dragon nodded in understanding before he closed his eyes and concentrated. Since he wasn't used to using his element yet, it took him a few seconds to gather his energy into his throat. Once he did however, it felt like his mouth was as hot as an oven.

"Now, open your mouth. Prove to me that you are a good sniper." Toxicon whispered and everyone else watched the fire dragon with the apes closely.

Brände nodded before he slowly opened his blue eyes. He then leaned his head forward just a little bit as he aimed his head at Red. He used his snout sort of like an iron sight to a rifle and fade sure his nose was centered at his target's neck. It wasn't until then that he finally opened his maw and a blue fireball shot out of his throat.

The fireball flew speedily through the air and looked like it was about to hit it's mark. Everyone's eyes widened however when Red quickly jumped to the side and the blue fireball hit one of the apes he was talking to. The primate screeched loudly as the blue flames engulfed it's body and it fell to the ground as it burned to death. This caused all the apes in the clearing to unsheathe their weapons and looked all around them in an attempt to find the one who just killed their ally.

Red growled menacingly as he whipped around and he immediately spotted Brände's head sticking out of the bush. His lips curled back to reveal his teeth as he took a threatening step forward and the Nazi dragon gulped.

"Bring that dragon and anyone with him to me!" the evil fire dragon boomed as he pointed a talon at the bush the group of six was hiding behind and the apes looked over at where their leader was pointing at.

"Fick dich! (Fuck you!)" the German sniper shouted with a glare before he backed away from the bush.

Without saying a word, the six dragons spread their wings to take to the skies. Before they could fly off however, a dozen or so apes rushed out of the foliage and charged towards them with their weapons raised.

"Dammit!" Toxicon growled before he rushed over to a charging ape and pierced his single horn through it's throat.

The ape's eyes widened form the attack and it dropped it's weapon as it struggled for air. Taking the hint, the rest of the group began to fight the apes.

Fasa screeched loudly with a red wave shooting out of her mouth and any ape who was hit by the crimson red energy were frozen in place with fear. As they were dazed, Brände used his powers as a flamethrower and engulfed the frozen apes in blue flames. This caused the burning apes to scream in agony as their flesh blistered and burned

As this happened, Turbo used his wind powers to quickly rush up to a few apes and spun around in quick succession. This caused a tornado to form around him and many of the hostile primates were flung in to the air. If any of them survived that, then the3y were put down by a swing from Paskigan's tomahawk tailblade.

Donker made sure to stay in the back and he slowly went around the apes to flank them. Once he was behind them, he inhaled deeply and released a torrent of shadow fire at a small group of apes were were trying to sneak up on Toxicon. The poison dragon glanced over his shoulder to see the apes flail around to try to whip away the shadows that seemed to be suffocating them.

After a few minutes of fighting, the surviving apes began to retreat, screaming as they did so. The six dragons smiled at their fleeing enemies before they all looked at one another.

"That wasn't as bad as I thought it would be." Donker commented with a toothy smile.

"True, but Red is still alive and he'll most likely be bullshit at us." Toxicon stated quickly and he constantly looked behind him.

"Let's just get out of here and think of our next move when we're at least somewhat safe." Paskigan suggested with urgency in his voice.

The others seemed to agree with this and some of them instinctively glanced at the ape encampment's direction. They decided to try to get as far away from the camp as possible and started running through the woods in the opposite direction of the apes. Unknown to the six dragons, they were being watched by a certain fire dragon.


End file.
